Nick stood up and walked out of the waiting room, motioning for both Larry and Josh to remain seated. He saw James standing in front of a vending machine and made the decision to go up to him. Maybe he should have allowed Josh or Larry to accompany him. The closer he got to James the more he wanted to turn around and run. But as he debated in his head what he wanted to do his feet kept moving and before he knew it he was standing next to James,
"Um what's up man?" He was greeted with an icy glare and licked his lips nervously as he realized he wasn't going to receive a warm welcome,
"Look, I know you probably just found out on TV that I'm Mac's father and I'm sorry you had to hear it that way." James rolled his eyes,
"So why didn't you ever say anything?" Why? Because he didn't want to believe it himself, how was he going to convince anyone else? He didn't say that, he simply shook his head,
"I don't know. I should have but I didn't." He had no idea why he was talking to James. He had no connection to the guy.
"What are your intentions? With Mac? How long are you going to be here? Are you going to be in her life from now on? What are you going to do?" Nick shook his head,
"I don't know." James snorted,
"You don't know? You don't know? What kind of shit is that? You're her father and you don't know what you're going to do?" He shook his head,
"Well, I'm about to be her father. Let me tell you what a real man does. I'm going to be there for her whenever she needs me. I'm going to be there for Quinn. I'm going to love them both and if I have my way Mac will be mine." Nick frowned,
"What does that mean?" Mac was not going to be his. He'd had this argument with Quinn plenty of times and his decision never changed, some other guy was not going to raise his daughter.
"It means that I've already talked to a lawyer about adopting Mac once Quinn and I are married." Nick saw red and his voice rose considerably,
"That is not going to happen. You may be marrying her mother but she's mine. And it will always be that way." James nodded,
"Speaking of her mother. Do you still want her? Are you still trying to go after her?" Nick rolled his eyes,
"No." As soon as he said that his mind wnadered back to the night that he and Quinn slept together. He couldn't help it, he loved being with her.
"She's engaged to you not me and that's cool." Actually it wasn't cool. The thought of never being able to have sex with Quinn again left a bad feeling in his heart. It wasn't just the sex, it was something about them.
"But, MacKenzie is my daughter and she's going to grow up and know that. She's a Carter." James shook his head,
"You do know that's not her name right?" Somewhere in his head he knew that, he knew that her last name wasn't the same as his and that was something that was going to change as soon as everything calmed down,
"I know that but it doesn't change the fact that it's my blood running through her." That last comment seemed to set James off,
"What have you done for her? Nothing, you've been a dead beat dad as long as she's been alive. How coould you do that? How does that make you feel? You're not even a fucking man." That was a little more than Nick could stand, he didn't come oout and try to talk to him just to be insulted,
"Look, you know nothing about me. You don't know what's going on. Its not that easy to just call me some fucked up dad. You have no clue." James shrugged,
"Well, tell me." Nick shook his head. Who does this guy think he is Nick thought,
"I don't owe you shit." He walked off and down the hall and the tears threatened to escape his tired eyes. He was so tired he didn't even know what day it was. The days all seemed to drag on and become one huge blur. It was if it was all one long ass bad day.
He was sitting in the waiting room, off by himself, he was tired of Josh asking if he needed anything and he was tired of Larry scolding him about his need to contact public relations, management, or if nothing else the other guys. He just wanted to be left alone. His eyes were closed and his head was layng against the back of the chair until he felt someone sit beside him and heard them say,
"How are you holding up?" He turned his head to see Chris smiling at him. Oh great, one of them, one of hers, over to give him yet another hard time,
"I'm fine." She shook her head,
"No really. I know this must be hard for you. Not only do you have to work through having a sick daughter but all these other things are just making it harder." He stared at her for a moment. Was she really sympathetic to the positions he was in?
"I know we're all looking out for Quinn and have kind of ganged up on you. We just love her and Mac so much and want the best for them both. I hope you don't think anyone hates you." Actually, that was exactly how he felt,
"It's not like I expected to be greeted with open arms and stuff. Especailly since I haven't been around like I should but its hard for me too. I just wish everyone would uderstand that. And that Quinn isn't the only one who is dealing with a sick daughter. I am too. People are treating me like I don't care. If I didn't care I wouldn't be here." She raised her eyebrows,
"Or if it weren't for Elliott's threat you wouldn't be here?" He sighed,
"Ok, damn. At first it was what got me here but I'm scared, I want her to be ok." Chris grabbed his hand and squeezed it,
"I know you do and so does everyone else." He sighed,
"You know? I really don't care what they think." She nodded,
"Ok well, Quinn knows." What was that supposed to mean? Did she think he cared what Quinn thought? Of course he cared what she thought. She was the only one that mattered at all to him. Just as she walked off Larry sat down beside him,
"I don't want to hear about PR." Larry sighed,
"Well, you're about to. You need to call them. I'm sure they are going to need some information from you so they can make an official statement. Why do you have to make it difficult? Just call them." He shook his head,
"No." Larry let out a strangled cry,
"Why not?" Nick rolled his eyes,
"Because its no one's business. She's my daughter, its my problem, and thats it. No one needs any information. I'm sick and tired of people thinking they have a right. They have a right to be told every little thing, they have a right to a picture, a story, a quote. Fuck the damn media and everyone else. Its none of their fucking business." Larry shook his head,
"You're making it harder than it has to be." Nick shrugged,
"Oh well." He wasn't going to do it, he wasn't going to give in and let them have their way this time. He just wanted to be left alone to take care of what he needed to take care of. When things were better maybe then he would talk about it but it just wasn't a priority at the moment.
Chapter 55
Reunited
Stories
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